July 1, 2010
I have just finished my first week of
client-serving! Silly as this may sound, before working my 40 hour week
at EY, I never realized how fast a 8:30am-5:30pm day goes. The interns
and I have been kept busy, and as interns, that's what we want: we want
to get our hands dirty in tax work!
To measure an employee's chargeable rate, we use what is called a
utilization rate at EY. Basically, you divide the total number of hours
worked divided by the amount of time that you worked on client related
activity. As interns, other than getting a flavor of the profession, a
nice goal to keep in mind is to get a decent utilization rate (50% or
greater is an awesome target for interns). During training, one of the
things they stressed was communication about your schedule. Therefore,
after I finished one of my projects this morning, I contacted a few EY
professionals in the office asking if they need help. A senior staff
quickly responded, and I was immediately put on another assignment!
Although it wasn't complex work, it was a great opportunity to learn
about a different area of tax compared to the big assignment I was on,
and I took it as an opportunity to put myself out there.
As a small self-assessment for this week, I feel like I have been
doing a good job, but I definitely know areas where I can improve. I
have a great utilization rate, which tells EY that I am bringing in
revenue, but at the end of the day, I learned its all about your
attitude and openness. Even if you're just doing data entry work, if
you have a smile on your face and show interest, people respond to you
that much more.
My goals for next week: continue to put myself out there!
Until next time,
Colette